It is kind of odd that they would put two "minions" in as an encounter.

-Kaodi

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.

Next combat is swingy in the sense that the unit of challenge is not a specific encounter but a collection of encounters. So, a few small quickies are to be expected, much like in 3.x moreso then 4 (one reason I had to change a lot of 3x encounters for PbP---too many small combats).

One thing that I need to ask: Where does it say Someone should be adding his ability modifier to damage? I think that ability modifier is just added to attack for spells (and for determining Save DCs). Without the four extra damage, might the one beetle still be alive?

I don't have the playtest documents at hand so I can't give you a quote, but it specifically says that attacks and magical attacks add the ability modifier to hit and damage. I assume that spells like burning hands that work on saves don't, since they're not labeled as magical attacks in the description. Shocking grasp and Ray of frost, however, are.

It's difficult to find, since the relevant info is spread and duplicated many times, but you can find it at page 12 of the "how to play" document:

Damage Rolls

Each weapon and spell indicates the damage it
deals, such as 1d8 or 2d8. Roll the dice, add any
modifiers (including the ability modifier you used
to make the attack), and apply the damage to your
target. Magic weapons, special abilities, and so
forth can grant a bonus to your damage

For the sake of completeness:

Attack Spells

Some spells let you make an attack roll. You
resolve such an attack as normal, except that the
attack seldom relies on Strength or Dexterity. An
attack spell almost always requires you to use your
magic ability, which is specified in the class or
other source that gave you the spell. For instance,
wizards use Intelligence to make their spell
attacks, and clerics use Wisdom.